The Art of Yoga
Recently, my partner asked me why I no longer picked up my paint brush.
A few years ago, he bought me an easel, a set of paints, canvases, brushes; the whole nine yards. However, when I found myself at the easel, staring at the canvas, I found myself stuck: either without a plan as to what would be worthy enough to paint (anything) or I’d start to paint, “mess up,” and subsequently fuel the urge to stuff it in a corner and return to it when I was “ready.”
Clearly, I haven’t been ready, or maybe I’ve just been too busy.
I come across a lot of affirmations on my social media like this:
But to be a creator of my own destiny, I actually have to start.
If I had a dollar for every time someone told me: “Oh, I’m just not flexible enough for yoga,” and every time I mentally laughed at that phrase….Well, I’d be flush with cash.
How ironic is it that we KNOW art and movement are outlets? Yet, never make time for them because “we’re not enough?”
Once we start, we inevitably become more flexible, more fine-tuned to our art. We logically know this, but we still set it aside, not realizing how good these outlets feel once we do them.
The canvas isn’t there, hoping I’ll turn it into a masterpiece that will sell for billions of dollars. It waits there, unused, for me to get over myself and just take the first stroke.
Because the truth is, I’ll never be ready, especially if I don’t try. I won’t ever be “good enough,” and even if I do meet my standards, the bar will get higher.
I’ll repeat a phrase I hear often from my mentor: “You don’t serve yoga. Yoga serves you.” And you know what? It’s the exact same in art.
In the early stages of my journalism career, I found myself at a competition where a group of student journalists, collectively, were to interview an artist at the University of Southern Mississippi. We were challenged to write a human interest story about the professor in 24 hours. I didn’t win the competition, but I learned something invaluable from that professor: art is like a muscle. Use it, practice it every day; then, you will have found the joy in the journey.
Even that has instilled a little fear in me to pick up my paintbrush when I know some people are so dedicated to their art that it seems to devour them. It’s intimidating.
But I’ll never know if I don’t try. I love this snippet from NPR podcaster and producer Ira Glass, who gives a very moving perspective on the creative process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHrmKL2XKcE
It’s only a 2-minute video, but if you don’t have time for it right now, here’s a quote that sums up what he’s conveying:
From the moment The HeARTH Creator’s Collective accepted the idea to host a weekly yoga class in their space, I wanted my sequence to reflect that. After all, we’re practicing in an artisanal space; let’s embrace it. Let’s embrace the essence of creativity, challenge, mindfulness, playfulness, curiosity, joy, and balance — all crucial to the creative process.
So, each week at 4:30 p.m., we’re doing just that. We’re repeating a similar sequence each week in this series to focus on the theme of balance. We’re jumping in — even if it’s new and hard and we may not be “ready” — to work towards a peak pose called dancer (see below):
These classes are donation-based and profits are split with The HeARTh. To sign up directly, visit my booking website here. (There’s a $5 charge because the site makes me set a price, but if you aren’t looking to donate, pre-register on the event invite). If you’d like to donate to The HeARTh or shop their artists’ creations, visit their website.
You can view more of the sequence we’re working on at my social media profiles, below. Ready or not, here we go!
